LAUNCH OF

MOBILE MONEY INTEROPERABILITY PHASE II

SPEECH DELIVERED
BY
DR ERNEST Y. ADDISON
GOVERNOR, BANK OF GHANA

GHIPSS, ACCRA
NOVEMBER 28, 2018
His Excellency the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia,

The Minister for Communications,

The Board and Management of GhIPSS,

CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications,

CEOs of Telcos and Financial Institutions,

Invited Guests, the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Good Morning

1. It's an honour to witness the launch of the second phase of the

Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI) project. This is undoubtedly

another major milestone in our quest to deepen financial

intermediation and inclusion; while digitizing the economy and

levelling the playing field for both the banked and unbanked.

2. As you will recall, the first phase of this project was launched in

May, 2018 with tremendous success. I must state that though

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 the significance of the project was not lost on us at the outset,

international commendation subsequent to the launch, has

underscored its uniqueness and novelty in the global payments

industry.

3. Before proceeding, let me acknowledge and thank His

Excellency, the Vice President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

for the vision, unflinching support and dedication from the

conception of this homegrown project initiated by the Bank of

Ghana way back in 2007 to its full implementation today. Also, I

would thank the banks, mobile money operators and fintechs for

the strong collaboration with GhIPSS and the Bank of Ghana in

the execution of the project. The zeal and commitment exhibited

during the successful execution of this project is commendable

and signals good prospects for developing an inclusive, safe and

efficient payments ecosystem for the Ghanaian economy.

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4. It is gratifying to note that the performance of the interoperability

platform since implementing the first phase has been impressive

based on the key pillars of CONVENIENCE, ACCESSIBILITY,

and VALUE FOR MONEY. Since then, total transaction value

and volume has increased from GH¢8.3 million and 96,907

respectively in May 2018 to GH¢32.6 million and 319,094

respectively in September 2018, representing 292.8 percent and

229.3 percent growth in value and volume respectively. This

growth trend is expected to increase further when the second

phase becomes fully operational and other innovative products

and services become available.

5. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to inform you that at the

recent Annual Global Policy Forum of the Alliance for Financial

Inclusion (AFI) held in September 2018 at Sochi Russia, Ghana

won three (3) of the eight (8) awards, including the technology

award in recognition of the interoperability project. As a result of

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 these laudable achievements, we have hosted a number of

visitors from central banks on the African continent to understudy

the project design and implementation, with more visits

scheduled for next year.

6. His Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen, with the completion of

the second phase of the interoperability project, Ghana has now

achieved its objective of establishing an integrated and

interoperable payments ecosystem. All the three (3) key national

payment circuits, namely; mobile money, e-zwich and gh-Link

are now interoperable, enabling seamless movement of funds

across these systems.

7. As we develop a digital financial ecosystem, the integrity of the

service delivery channels becomes paramount. Transmission

channels for electronic payments should guarantee security of

transactions. This can be achieved through adherence to

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 international best practices and standards in the acquisition,

deployment and management of channels. Consequently, the

Bank of Ghana has drafted Guidelines on Operations of

Electronic Payment Channels which will provide a framework for

management of an efficient and secure transmission of

electronic transactions across various payment channels. We

also must bear in mind issues regarding cyber security during

electronic transfers and ensure that the proper structures and

systems are in place to handle such threats.

8. With the implementation of the second phase of this

infrastructure, payment service providers would have the

opportunity to scale up access to financial services through

digital channels. However, a strict financially inclusive society

must ensure that financial products are accessible to meet the

needs of different categories of customers.

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9. Currently, most of the digital financial products available in the

Ghanaian ecosystem are in the category of savings, payments,

investments and insurance. Credit products receive less

attention thereby limiting the capacity of the unbanked and

underserved to borrow for economic activities. A deliberate and

concerted effort to develop an electronic credit market is

therefore necessary to promote financial inclusiveness.

10. In this regard, the Bank is working with Financial Sector

Deepening (FSD) Africa to implement a credit market diagnostic

project. The project will assist in identifying constraints to credit

delivery and propose measures to overcome them. This will

complement efforts towards expanding the scope of financial

access to both the banked and unbanked in society.

11. His Excellency, as the sole regulator of the Mobile Money

sector, the Central Bank will ensure that right things are done by

the various players in the sector. We will continue to regulate

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 and monitor activities within the space and ensure that all

participants play by the rules. The Bank of Ghana has a key

responsibility to safeguard the integrity of the financial system to

underscore the trust that is central to financial deepening and

development. It is therefore critical to ensure the confidentiality of

transactions, privacy of data collected by operators in this space

(including personal and financial data), the security of

transactions, and smooth operations of all stakeholders and

regulators providing complementary services in this space.

12. The interoperability that exist between e-zwich, bank

accounts and mobile money wallets, offer participants an

endless opportunity to develop various value added services to

the public. Let me therefore challenge Fintechs to work closely

with banks, non-bank financial institutions and especially rural

and community banks to come out with several other products

and services that will further bring banking and financial

transactions closer to the public. I see endless opportunities with

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 this financial inclusion triangle and I hope the players also realise

the enormity of opportunities it presents.

13. To conclude, I wish to thank all stakeholders who in one

way or the other have helped in the full implementation of the

interoperability project and to say that the future of Ghana’s

financial inclusiveness and cash-lite society is well within reach.

14. Thank you for the attention.